Saint Academy

The sky above the northern borderlands hung low and gray, smothered by a thick veil of ash and smoke. Wind howled softly through the dead trees, scattering the last burning embers of what once stood proud—another academy for Saints, reduced now to melted walls and incinerated faith.

Instructor Rayne took point, her white-and-gold trench coat fluttering in the breeze, hood drawn low, rifle slung across her back. Behind her followed Zeke Alastair, silent and alert, Amara Veyne, gaze heavy with dread, and their two second-year companions—Kael Varn, armored in liquid steel that flowed over his skin like mercury, and Riven Sora, whose holographic visor scanned every ruin with flickering light.

The four Saints-in-training and their Instructor moved through the devastated courtyard of the outpost. The saint sigils—usually radiant golds and blues—were charred black, some melted into the stone like wax. The air reeked of sulfur, scorched metal, and something else far worse.

Corruption.

---

Zeke crouched beside a smoldering crater, his fingers brushing the outline of a shattered Divinity marker.

"These were elite combat wards," he muttered. "This place wasn't taken easily."

Kael stepped beside him, emotionless, scanning the ruin with sharp eyes. "No survivors. Again."

Amara clenched her fists, her aura flickering faintly. "Third academy this month. They're accelerating."

Rayne walked ahead, stopping before what had once been the main chapel—now only a steel frame covered in crimson scorch marks. She placed a hand over her heart, bowing slightly in mourning. Then her gaze turned cold.

"Riven. Give me a scan. Now."

Riven was already tapping into a leftover field drone half-buried beneath debris. Her visor flickered and pulsed, pulling fragmented data from broken circuits. Static buzzed. Then, slowly… a distorted image began to form.

---

A woman. Standing in the mist.

Silver eyes.

Blood-red tattoos bleeding from her neck down to her fingertips.

Around her swirled dozens of flame-laced insects, their wings flickering like embers. A corrupted town stretched behind her—buildings disfigured by supernatural fire, trees turned to charred bone, streets flowing with slow-burning tar.

Etched into the wall behind her, half-visible through the smoke—

LORNEDGE.

Riven swallowed hard. "That's not a battlefield… that's a nest."

Rayne's eyes narrowed as she examined the energy signature in the clip. The crimson aura was too thick, too hot, too wrong.

"Beelzebub-class," she whispered.

---

Amara turned sharply. "We're dealing with a Beelzebub-ranked witch?!"

Kael exhaled. "Then this wasn't an attack."

Rayne finished his sentence.

"It was a takeover."

---

They moved forward into what remained of the facility's command center. Broken terminals sparked weakly as they passed, some whispering static prayer fragments. The central altar—once where Saints would gather to channel communal Divinity—had been desecrated, split down the middle and rearranged into a pentagram of scorched bone.

Amara's voice cracked with quiet rage:

> "They're not just killing. They're defiling."

---

Zeke stepped into the center of the room. His aura flared in response to the damage, his Saint Mark glowing faintly across his forearm.

"Lornedge," he said coldly. "We're heading there."

Rayne didn't hesitate.

> "Pack light. Move fast. Beelzebub witches don't play games—

and they don't leave witnesses."

---

As the recon team turned toward their new path, the wind shifted, carrying a low, humming sound.

A whisper.

Barely audible.

But there, beneath the ash—

Laughter.

Female.

And inhuman.

---

Scene: Day 11 — Black Vein Combat Dome, Core Arena

> "No limits. No training wheels. Let's see if the Void has claws, or just teeth." — Mira Vex

---

The air grows heavy.

The dull, steel-plated floor of the Black Vein Dome shifts as both combatants begin to exert their Divinity. The sterile lighting flickers. Shadows stretch unnaturally. Static crawls through the air like insects of light.

Mira Vex radiates white-blue arcs of flickering energy — her Static Divinity charges every surface she touches, including the air. Even her breaths distort sound.

Damien Gray, now standing calmly, exhales once.

The Void answers.

Black cracks ripple beneath his feet. A faint hum echoes from nowhere, as if the room has begun remembering something it forgot long ago.

> "This dome reflects Divinity resonance," Mira says, circling him, hands loose. "So try not to unravel the floor too soon."

Damien doesn't respond.

Instead, he disappears.

---

Damien's Void Stride triggers — he appears behind Mira, launching a Void Fang-infused elbow aimed at her spine.

But Mira is already gone.

Her Static Divinity discharges like thunder — she reappears mid-air, flipping and firing a condensed Static Bolt from her palm like a sniper round.

Damien raises his forearm and Null Shroud activates, absorbing the hit with a visible ripple across his skin.

> "Faster than I expected," Mira says. "But not unpredictable."

She lands with a shockwave, sliding across the steel and drawing crackling lines of voltage behind her.

Damien claps both hands to the ground.

Oblivion Crash detonates — the ground pulls inward toward a void vortex. Mira tries to leap—

—but Damien predicted her.

He appears mid-air and uses Fracture Echo, sending a delayed second copy of himself flying upward with a feint kick.

She dodges the real one — the echo punches her square in the ribs.

Her eyes flash. Static arcs across her body and she explodes with Static Burst, throwing both real and echo-Damien backward.

> "You're learning to bait. That's new," she says, breathing heavier. "Good. Now survive this."

---

Mira flicks her fingers and speaks a word:

"Recoil."

Suddenly the entire floor is charged with stored kinetic energy from all her prior movements. It launches upward in jagged spikes of lightning-infused steel.

Damien blinks into the Void, reappearing between two spikes midair, already mid-punch — Void Fang ignited.

Mira meets him with a rotating palm technique. Static channels through her body as she uses Conduction Veil — any contact transfers high-voltage backlash directly into his nervous system.

Damien's arm connects—

—he screams as his whole body locks up, static racing through his core.

She roundhouse kicks him across the room, sending him crashing into the far wall.

Smoke rises from his skin.

He doesn't get up.

> "That was direct contact," Mira says, approaching. "That trick works once."

---

Damien's body convulses. His hand twitches.

The shadows around him writhe.

Then…

He vanishes.

Again.

Only this time, he reappears above her — Void Stride nested inside Fracture Echo, inside another Voidlink Pulse. Three layers deep. A triple echo.

Mira turns just in time to see four versions of Damien descending like blades.

One is real.

One is a feint.

Two are echoes.

She activates Singularity Point — a Static Field that locks a 3-meter radius of time and movement for 0.8 seconds.

Damien's real body enters the field… just before it activates.

He freezes in midair.

Time suspended.

> "Checkmate," Mira whispers.

But her eyes widen.

A thin, black ripple coils from Damien's chest — Void energy pulses outward, not to break the field…

…but to erase it.

Event Null shatters her Static field with a flicker — the "moment" she activated it is erased from reality.

Damien moves.

Uppercut.

Void Fang ignites.

Connects to Mira's jaw.

BOOM.

Mira's body is launched backward, spinning midair, crashing into a wall of lightning-charged steel.

---

Mira's breath is heavy.

One side of her face is scorched.

But she smiles.

> "That—was a real Saint's punch."

The floor of the Black Vein Dome begins rattling. Mira raises her hand and her Signature Ability manifests:

⚡ Final Ability: Stormlock Requiem

The entire arena becomes a hypercharged cage of electricity. Every movement Damien makes triggers a cascade of static disruption spikes, making it impossible to dodge, teleport, or block completely.

> "You've pushed me to use it. Be proud."

Damien clenches his fists, Void swirling violently.

He throws his arm forward, activating:

⚫ Abyss Crown

The arena distorts. A dome of collapsing Void forms around Mira, shrinking fast, pressure warping all light and matter inside.

She's caught.

There's silence.

Then—

A scream of light bursts outward.

The Abyss Crown shatters from within.

Mira steps out, blood on her lip, breathing hard.

> "Impressive. That almost killed me."

She vanishes.

Reappears behind Damien.

Final strike.

Palm to his chest.

A static surge detonates through his nervous system, not just disabling him—but momentarily overriding his connection to the Void.

Damien drops to his knees.

His eyes twitch.

His body collapses.

He blacks out.

---

Damien lies motionless.

Mira stands over him, arms crossed.

> "You fought like a monster. And that's exactly what the world needs you to learn not to become."

She turns away.

Her eyes, however, show respect.

> "Tomorrow, we fight with purpose. Not just power."